Drop-door for railway-cars



1.0. NEIKIRK.

nso? nooR FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.6, 19H.

Patented June 22, 1920 2 SHEETS- SHEET I.

JZAWI l I '.I. 0. NEIKIRK.

DROP DOOR FOR RAILWAY CARS. APPLICATION msn Auen?. 19H.

1,344,208. Panted Junezz, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

,JoHN o. nninnx, 'e LOMBARD, Immers AssIGNoR To QMPANY, A CORPORATION orMAINE.

RODGER BALLAST CAR n: or-noon ron RAILWAY-CARS.

' Application filed August 6,

To all "to/"tom 'it may concer/a:

Be it known that l, Jol-1N O. Niemann, a citizen of the United States,and .resident of Lombard, in the county of Dupage and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and luseul Improvements in Droppoors forllailway-Cars,l of 'which the following is a specification. V-

This invention relates to railway cars ol' the type more particularlyliinown as gen# eral utility cars, which have drop. doors hinged to theunderframe and extending beneath certain of the members of theunderframe, and the invention has `for its object 'to improve theconstructionof such cars by providing. means for minimizing the leakageof material therefrom and for strengthening the doors so as toA adaptthe cars to meet the various requirements tor successful commercialoperation.

These and other objects are accomplished by providing a drop doorcomprising a piece of material having corrugations formed therein forgiving strength to the l door and also being of Z-section, the flangesgiving added strength to the door and the same being arranged topreventlleakage.

The invention is illustrated on the accompanying sheets of drawings inwhich,

Figure l is a fragmentary plan View of a freight oar embodying myinvention;

Fig. 2 isa fragmentary sectional view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of/my improved door;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the same door taken inthe plane of line4-4 of Fig. and 'i Fig. 5 is another sectional view of the same doortaken in the plane of line 5 5 Of Fig. 3. l;

The various novel features of my invention will be apparent from thefollowingy dem siription and drawings and will be particularly setJforth in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated-in connection with a railway freight carsupported. on wheels l0 and including side plates 1l which arereinforced by stakes 12. Spaced center sills 13 and 14 are arrangedlengthwise of the car and secured to the tops thereof is a cover plate15 which spans the center sillsV Suitably supported a't the sides andalso upon the cover plate 15 at each end of the car is a relativelyelevated floor portion 18.

` eachy side of the car shedding l connect 'theide members 11 'withthejstop Specification. of Letters Patent. Patcnted June 22, 1920.

1317. Serial No. 184,600.

ntermediate the ends .of the car and below the level of the floorportion 18 at each end ot the oar are oppositely arranged doors 19 and20, which are of Z-eross section. To withstand the heavy service towhich they are subjected, the body portions of the doors7 which may bemade of metal, are provided with` corrugations 2l, the depth of whichincreases toward the middle of the door.y giving the lower portion ofthe door a general tapered effect extending downward toward the middleof the door. The upper or top portion of each of the doors is straightand normally lies in a horizontal plane. The corrugations do not extendentirely across' the door, there being plane portions 22 and 23 adjacentthe flanges 24 and 25, the former of which extends downwardly at rightangles to the main portion of the door and the latter flange 25 of whichextends upwardly at right angles-t0 the main portion of the door. Thecorrugations in. the body of the door add greatly to the strength of thedoor,A this being especially true where the depth of the corrngations isgreatest along the middle of the door. shown. The flanges 24.- and25also add to the strength of the door. A

By referring to Fig. 2 it will'be noted that the upwardly extendingflanges 25 of each of the doors is connected to a hinge 26 which in turnis secured to one of the center sill members, whereupon these pivotallymounted doors may be swung or dropped downwardly to permitv outwarddumping of the load to either side of the car. The operation of thedoors 19 and 20 is controlled by shafts 27 extending alongl the sides ofthe car and around which chains-28 are wound, one end of each of thechains being connected to .the front or outer por.- tions of the doors.If it is desired to unload the car. `it is merely necessary to actuatethe shaft 27 in a manner to permit the doors 19 and 20 to drop or swingabout their pivots. It will be noted that the outer portion of the doorsengage. stop members 29 and that the downwardly extending flan es 24also engage the downwardly exten ing flanges 30 of the stop members 29.Not only do the flange ortions 24 and 25 of the door greatly strengt enthe same to withstand the heavy service', but .they also preventilealr'a011- em rs 31 members 29. It is apparent from the above description thatI have provided a car of the type described, in which the drop doors eX-tend beneath the underframe members and are provided with flanges soarranged to cooperate with the frame of the car as to minimize theleakage .of material. This is a matter of great importance since itgreatly lessens claims for damage arisingfrom loss of material intransit. Further, I have pro.-

vided a door which is strengthenedby this arrangement of fianges and, ifdesired, by

the construction of the body of the door so that it will withstand theheavy service to .which these cars are subjected.

It is evident that there may be various 'modifications of thearrangement herein shown and described, and'it ,is my intention to coverall such modifications which do not involve a departure fromfthe spiritand scope of my invention as set forth in the Vfollowing claims. .f

I claiin :V

1. A drop door for railway cars, the `top VVportion of which is in asingle plane andthe under portion of which is provided with corrugationsextending in the line of flow v of the dumpable material andr beingdeeper point than at ,f ,other creasing toward the middle of the door,andi? Y flanges extendingY from the body portion "ofA the door forgiving strength to the same.

4. In a railway car, the combination of frame members, a corrugated doorhaving a body portion and flange portions extending therefrom, oneofsaid flanged portions being pivotally connected to one of said framemembers @id thepther flange portion arranged adjacent-the other framemember to vprevent lealragepast said door.

5. In a railway car, the combination of a center sillm'ember, a sideframe member, Vand corrugated door having a body portionfandl upwardlyand downwardly extends ino Hannes. the upwardly extending flangesportion and a downwardly extending flange,

and a corrugated drop door having a body portion and upwardly anddownwardly extending flanges, the upwardly extendiner flange beingpivotally connected to said sill member and the downwardly extendingflange being arranged adjacent the downwardly extending flange of saidmember, the door being limited in its upward movement by the stopportion of said member.

y A car having an underframe comprising a center sill taking the draftand hilfling strains and the usual cross members, doors hinged to thecenter sill and extending therefrom beneath the cross members toward thesides of the car, and lianges arranged upon the edges of the doorscoperating with the frame members of the car.

8. A car having a center sill taking the draft and buffin/gf strains andthe usual eros: members, doors hinged to the center sill ano extendingtherefrom beneath the cross members toward the sides of the car, saiddoors beingV provided along their longitudinal edges with oppositelyextending Hanges. I

9. In a railway dump car, the' combina tion with the body of the car, ofa hinged door forming part of the bottom of the car and adapted toassume an inclined position for dumping, comprising a sheet steel panelformed. with corrugations extending in the direction of movement of thecargo when dumped, which merge one into the other so that the panel hasa sinuous configuration ii cross section.V

" l0. In; combination with the body oi a lfilwflljlllml ...oalprof v.adoor,... means Yfor hinging the door to the bottom of the car body,means for supporting the edge of the door opposite the hinges when thedoor is closed; the door comprising a. sheet metal panel formed withcorrugations which ex tend substantially from the hinged edge of thedoor-to said opposite edge. Signed at Chicago, Ill., this 27th day ofJuly, 19TH JOHNO. NEIKIRK.

' Witnesses:

C.` E. JoRGnNsEN, JOHN S. MAURER.

